all tied up…

No, they don’t really disintegrate in a fiery ball of rope fibers and jets of flame. They are the next generation of knots that release their load when you pull on their rip-cord.

The older knots in this category, like the infamous “Highwayman’s Hitch”, performed at a useful level — most of the time. Then again, a Highwayman who missed one fast escape because his hitch didn’t cleanly release his horse when he needed it to could end up wearing the King’s Broad Arrow. On a really bad day he would end up wearing 3 fathoms of the King’s finest hemp rope, but only for a short time — and a short drop — that fetched up short and sharp at the end.

These knots release their loads and then fall apart so far that they should never need to be worked on to any real degree like the old knots. Some of the other knots would release the initial load, but would then upset into another secure/semi-secure knot that needed to be untied again to completely release the load.

I have to admit that I would test them extensively before I committed the safety of vessel, life, or limb to them. But you should do that with anything new that you are going to be wagering such valuable things on.

I have tied and examined these knots. Under this admittedly shallow inspection they stood out as successfully fulfilling all stated claims. Many other knots have failed to perform, even those with the most modest of claimed virtues; so far these are well ahead of the pack.

If anyone has used any of these knots in the real world and would like to send in their thoughts, I would be happy to post them.